Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Daniel Velez |
National team | Puerto Rico |
Born | San Juan, Puerto Rico | 9 December 1983
Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
Weight | 77 kg (170 lb) |
Sport | |
Sport | Swimming |
Strokes | Breaststroke |
College team | North Carolina State University (U.S.) |
Coach | Brooks Teal (U.S.) |
Daniel Velez (born December 9, 1983) is a Puerto Rican retired swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. [1] He represented his nation Puerto Rico at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has won a career total of three medals (two golds and one bronze) at the 2005 Maccabiah Games in Netanya, Israel. [2] [3] Velez was also a member of the NC State Wolfpack swimming and diving team under head coach Brooks Teal, while pursuing his degree in psychology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. [4]
Velez competed for the Puerto Rican squad in the men's 100 m breaststroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. [4] Five months before the Games, he threw down a lifetime best of 1:03.63 to slip past the FINA B-cut (1:03.72) by almost a tenth of a second (0.1) at the All-American Championships in Austin, Texas, United States. [5] [6] Velez slipped to the front from lane one to touch the wall first in heat three with a remarkable Puerto Rican record in 1:01.80, slashing 1.83 seconds off his own entry standard and beating India's Sandeep Sejwal, who finished behind him, in a close finish by only a small fraction of a second. [7] Despite his outstanding feat in the heats, Velez ended his Olympic campaign with a thirty-third place overall finish and did not advance to the semifinals. [8]
Vladislav Vitalyevich Polyakov is a Kazakhstani swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He swam for his native Kazakhstan at three Olympic Games, and eventually finished fifth in both 100 and 200 m breaststroke at his official Olympic debut in Athens. In total, he has won eight medals in major international tournaments, including his first career gold from the 2006 FINA World Short Course Championships in Shanghai, China. While residing in the United States, Polyakov is a five-time SEC champion, a double NCAA titleholder, and a two-time gold medalist at the national championships. He also earned a total of twelve All-American titles while playing for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 2003 to 2007.
Puerto Rico competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics which was held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The American territory with a population of four million people qualified 22 athletes in eight different sports. The appearance of the Puerto Rican delegation at the Beijing Olympics marked the commonwealth's sixteenth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics, and its twenty-second appearance at any Olympic Games, since its debut at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. Of its competitors participating in events that involve progression by heats, six athletes advanced at least one round in their events, and two advanced at least two rounds, with Asunción Ocasio almost medaling bronze in taekwondo. However, there were no Puerto Rican medalists at the Beijing Olympics. McWilliams Arroyo, a boxer, bore Puerto Rico's flag at the ceremonies.
Barbados sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The island nation made its tenth appearance as an independent nation upon its arrival in Beijing. Eight athletes across three sports and ten events represented Barbados, marking the smallest delegation in its history up to the Beijing Games. Its runners and swimmers advanced past the first rounds in their events in four of their nine events, although none advanced to their events' final rounds or medaled. The nation's flagbearer during the Beijing Games was swimmer Bradley Ally.
Guy Marcos Barnea is an Israeli swimmer who represented Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has won three medals at the European Championships. As of March 2016, he held the Israeli records in the long course 50m backstroke (24.64), the short course 50m backstroke (23.27), and the long course 100m butterfly (51.36).
Giedrius Titenis is a Lithuanian swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He is a four-time Olympian, a multiple-time Lithuanian record holder in the men's breaststroke, and a double swimming champion in the same discipline at the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China. Titenis is also a member of Anykščiai Swimming Club, and is coached and trained by Žilvinas Ovsiukas.
István Hunor Mate is an Austrian swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He is also a twenty-two time Austrian national champion, five-time Austrian national record holder, and a current member of Wolfsberger SV in Vienna, Austria.
Laurent Carnol is a Luxembourgish swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. Carnol set national records of 1:01.39 and 2:09.78 in the men's breaststroke at the 2010 European Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and at the 2012 European Long Course Meet in Luxembourg City, respectively. Carnol is also a member of SC Le Dauphin Ettelbruck under his personal coach Ian Armiger, and currently, a chemistry student at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, England.
Andrei Cross is a Barbadian former swimmer, who specialized in the breaststroke events. Cross represented his nation Barbados at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and in two editions of the Commonwealth Games, establishing a national record of 29.24 in the 50 m breaststroke. During his swimming career, Cross was affiliated with TeamBath, the sports organization of England's University of Bath, under the tutelage of head coach Mark Skimming.
Valentin "Vali" Preda is a Romanian swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He represented his nation Romania at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has also claimed multiple Romanian national records in the breaststroke, and medley relays. Preda is a former member of the swimming team for the Louisville Cardinals, and a graduate of exercise science at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky.
Erik Rajohnson is a Czech-Malagasy former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He represented his nation Madagascar at the 2008 Summer Olympics, placing among the top 60 swimmers in the men's 100 m breaststroke.
Yuta Suenaga is a Japanese swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He attained a top eight finish in the 100 m breaststroke at the 2007 Summer Universiade in Bangkok, Thailand, and had been selected to represent Japan at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Suenaga is an economics graduate at Hosei University in Tokyo.
Sergio Andrés Ferreyra is an Argentine former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He is a multiple-time Argentine record holder, and a two-time medalist in the breaststroke at the 2006 South American Games in Buenos Aires. He is also a member of Club Regatas Corrientes, and is coached and trained by Sergio Oscar Sainz.
Viktar Aliaksandravich Vabishchevich is a Belarusian swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He posted a Belarusian record time of 28.03 seconds in the prelims of the men's 50 m breaststroke at the 2012 European Aquatics Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. He also won a bronze medal in the same event at the 2007 European Junior Swimming Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, clocking at 28.62 seconds.
Jiří Jedlička is a Czech former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He represented his nation Czech Republic at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has owned multiple Czech championship titles and national records in both the 100 and 200 m breaststroke. Jedlicka was also a member of Plavecky Areal Swimming Club in Pardubice, under the tutelage of his personal coach Jaroslav Strnad.
Nguyễn Hữu Việt was a Vietnamese swimmer who specialized in breaststroke events. He won a total of five medals, and set numerous records for both the 100 and 200 m breaststroke at the Southeast Asian Games (2003–2009).
Jung Seul-ki is a South Korean swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. She finished eleventh in the women's 200 m breaststroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has won a career total of four medals in a major international competition, spanning the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships, the 2006 Asian Games, and the 2007 Summer Universiade. Jung also served as a varsity member of the swimming team at Yonsei University.
Ben-Rachmiel Labowitch is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. Since his mother is a New Zealand citizen, Labowitch claims a dual citizenship which allowed him to try out and make the New Zealand Olympic team. Labowitch is also a former member of North Shore Swim Club under his coach Thomas Ensorg, and a graduate of Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, where he played for the Drury Panthers.
Arsenio Alexander López Rosario, also known as Alex Lopez, is a Puerto Rican former swimmer and three-time Olympian who specialized in breaststroke and individual medley events.